Foundation and wall drainage system



Nov. 29, 1966 J. BEVILACQUA 3,287,866

FOUNDATION AND WALL DRAINAGE SYSTEM Filed Oct. 25, 1963 0 o q I o O o a 2! INVENTOR O 0 JOSEPH BEVILACQUA a 0 BY 23 22 o AT TORNE Y United States Patent 3,287,866 FOUNDATION AND WALL DRAINAGE SYSTEM Joseph Bevilacqua, Youi'igstown, Ohio, assignor of onehalf to Robert 1. tier, Youngstown, Ohio Filed Oct. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 318,221 1 Claim. (Cl. 52-169) This invention relates to a foundation wall such as found in dwelling house basements and the like.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a foundation wall having a built-in drainage system.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a foundation wall and floor construction incorporating a drainage means.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a foundation wall construction which will insure dry basements in a building by providing a positive means of drainage.

The foundation wall and drainage system disclosed herein comprises a solution to the problem of wet basements which have been more or less common in dwelling house constructions for many years. It is well known that the conventional dwelling house has a basement thereunder and the house itself is supported on foundation walls which define the basement area and which foundation walls are in direct contact by the earth in which the basement is dug. It has heretofore been proposed to provide some form of drainage around the outside of the foundation wall in an effort to drain away water in the earth surrounding the basement wall and with the object of keeping the basement wall dry. Such systems have met with varying degrees of success and many dwelling houses have wet basement walls with water running across the floor which is very undesirable.

The present invention solves this problem by constructing the foundation wall in a manner so that vertical drainage channels are formed therein and drainage openings are provided in the bottom course and communication with the drain tile is insured by a gravel or blast furnace slag bed extending from the openings in the bottom course of the foundation wall to the tile and on the inside of the wall and beneath the basement floor so that a completely dry wall and floor is realized.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a building block used in the lower course of the foundation wall.

FIGURE 2 is an end view thereof.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view with pants broken away and parts in cross section illustrating a typical installation of the foundation and wall drainage system.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section through atypical foundation and wall drainage system and illustrating a sealing coat applied to the inside of the wall.

By referring to the drawings and FIGURE 1 in particular, it will be seen that a side view of a cement building block is illustrated in which a front surface is provided with a plurality of drainage openings 11, 11 which drainage openings communicate with vertical hollow cores 12, 12 in the building block.

In FIGURE 2 of the drawings, the drainage openings 11 are shown extending into the end cores 12 and it will be observed that the building block is conventional except that it is provided with the drainage openings 11.

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By'referring now to FIGURE 3 of the drawings wherein the invention is illustrated, it will be seen that a footer 13, which is usually poured concrete, is shown and a drain tile 14 is laid along the inside surface 15 of the footer 13. The first row of building blocks positioned on the footer 13 comprises the blocks shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings and they are so arranged that the drainage openings 11, 11 face inwardly and are positioned above the inner surface 15 of the footer 13. The successive upward courses of building blocks are conventional blocks 16, 16 and they are provided with vertical hollow cores as customary in the art.

As illustrated in FIGURE 3, the cores are indicated by the numerals 17, 17, and it will be observed that they communicate with the cores 12 in the building blocks forming the lowermost course. Relatively large gravel or blast furnace slag 18 is filled over the drainage tile 14 and thereabove and alongside the inner surface 15 of the footer 13 and upwardly alongside the drainage openings 11 in the lower course of blocks 10. The basement floor which is a concrete slab 19 is poured over the gravel or blast furnace slag 18 at an elevation above the drainage openings 11. When the foundation thus formed is completed, earth is back filled against the outer side of the foundation wall which is indicated by the numeral 20 and ground water or surface water that builds up against the outside 20 of the foundation wall may eventually seep through or enter through cracks whereupon it will drain downwardly through the hollow cores 17 in the building blocks 16 and into the hollow cores 12 of the lower course of blocks 10 and then drain outwardly through the openings 11 into the gravel or blast furnace slag 18 and into the drainage tile 14. Thus, the inner surface of the walls formed of the blocks 10 and 16 remain dry as does the basement floor slab 19. By utilizing the foundation wall and drainage system disclosed herein the basement floor slab 19 is never subjected to hydraulic pressure from water building up therebeneath as is the case in many dwelling house basements. A similar advantage occurs in the wall construction in that there is no hydraulic pressure from accumulated Water in the hollow cores of the building blocks and thus there is no tendency to crack the wall or wet the inner surface thereof. Of equal importance is the fact that ground water pressure against the outer surface 20 of the foundation wall may penetrate the wall through cracks that may exist therein, but the ground water drains down through the cores 12, 12 rather than merely filling up one portion thereof as is the case when ground water enters the hollow cores in a conventional block wall and exerts hydraulic pressure on the inner faces of the blocks forming the wall.

It will thus be seen that by forming a foundation wall in accordance with the invention, the basement defined by the foundation wall is completely dry at all times and acts as a drainage system for both the foundation wall itself as well as the area defined thereby.

By referring to FIGURE 4 of the drawings, a modification of the foundation wall and drainage system may be seen in which a footer 21 is disclosed with an adjacent tile drain 22 and a gravel or blast furnace slag fill adjacent thereto and extending above the footer 21. A foundation wall comprising a first course of apertured blocks 24 is positioned on the footer 21 with apertures 25 in a boss on the inner side of the wall and in communication with the gravel or blast furnace slag fill 23. Additional courses of blocks 26, 26 complete the wall and it will be observed that all of the blocks have vertical hollow cores 27, 27 therein. A basement floor pad 28 is formed over the gravel or blast furnace slag fill 23 above the openings 25 in the blocks 24 and a sealant coating such as Portland cement 29 or its equivalent is applied to the inner surface of the blocks comprising the foundation wall. Ground Water from earth on the opposite side of the Wall upon penetrating the wall will flow downwardly through the hollow cores 27 and through the drainage openings 25, through the gravel or blast furnace slag and into the drainage tile 22.

It will thus be seen that the foundation wall and draina-ge system disclosed herein makes possible a completely dry basement by providing controlled conditions with respect to the actual drainage tiles used by locating the same so that they cannot be filled with dirt as is the case when they are located on the outside of the foundation wall and footer.

It will thus be seen that a foundation and wall drainage system has been disclosed which meets the several objects of the invention, and having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A foundation wall and drainage system comprising a footer, a drain tile adjacent said footer, a wall formed of hollow building blocks having openings in their upper and lower surfaces arranged vertically on said footer, the

lowermost row of said building blocks having cut away portions in the inner faces thereof communicating with the interiors of said hollow building blocks and forming drainage openings adjacent said drain tile, a gravel or blast furnace slag fill over said drain tile and extending to and covering said drainage openings in said blocks and a cement pad on said gravel or blast furnace slag fill engaging said blocks of said Wall at a location above said drainage openings.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,734,777 11/1929 Pike 52-169 2,292,876 8/1942 Gladville 52-198 2,410,338 10/1946 Craine 52-198 2,948,993 I 8/1960 Marchi 52-198 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. R. S. VERMUT, Assistant Examiner. 

